DPing AND directing

rahn

rahn

Well-known member
I'll be directing a short film during a 3-5 day shoot over the summer. It will be shot on super 16 (Arri SR1 or 3) with 2 main characters and 5 minor characters. I will have access to a crew and also lighting equipment and full sound setup.

But here's the dilemma. Picture is my big passion as much as directing is and I'm stuck on whether to DP it as well as directing. I'm extremely picky about the style of cinematography, and because I'm at school, it's hard for me to find a very competent student cinematographer who has the eye AND the technical proficiency. But to juggle both the jobs is a huge responsibility and I'm wondering whether doing so will sacrifice the quality of the film. The other option is to definitely have the Arri videotap on location and keep a close eye on the DP.

I'd like to know what you think based on your experiences.

Thanks!
 
Are you seeking to become a professional director? You better learn how to work with others. Really, communicating to your DP the shots you want is an essential part of directing, and this should be thoroughly done in PRE-production. If you're worried about the DP not giving you what you want, then are you entirely certain that you know what you "want" in the first place? Hopefully you're not winging it on the shooting day, in which case a dedicated DP would likely have given you better results as his job would not have been distracted by directing duties.

Also, assuming you're at a film school, are you sure you're the most skilled cinematographer of all your peers? I can guarantee there are plenty of skilled DPs who would love to shoot film- you just need to give them a chance to do their job.
 
I'm not exactly sure how professional shoots are run (only a student), but on my shoots 90% of the lighting is set before the first day of shooting. I like to be able to get there, setup lights, and then have time to work with the actors as much as possible. (although sh*t can and does happen so we're sometimes starting from scratch)

Granted this implies you have access to lighting equipment before hand and have visited the location you're going to be shooting. Also that you know what shots you want very well so you know where the camera will and will not see.

My point is, you and the DP should be seeing eye to eye about how the shots are going to be lit before shooting. I talk to the DP about what it should look like and where the camera points, he comes up with light placement and fixture ideas, we test them and see if it works.
 
I'm actually seeking to be a professional cinematographer. I do the shot lists and storyboarding myself for all my films during pre-production. When I write, I see rather than hear.
Of course there are a lot of awesome cinematographers out there. I'm not saying that I'm the only one who can get the job done (obviously). But I think a lot of people would be surprised how many shitty films you see coming out of NYU from kids who think they can shoot. I think Tisch is selling out...


Thank you guys for your inputs. I guess my problem is that maybe I just love to shoot, especially film, a tad more than I like to direct. It's a big sacrifice for me to pass up the opportunity. My professor suggested that I could team up to co-direct.
I'm still hoping someone will tackle my specific question head on..
 
Any time you wear more than one hat on a job you sacrifice the quality of the product produced by each task. If you can only give one hundred percent, then that energy and concentration must be divided to accomplish each task.

If there are two tasks and a qualified person to complete each, those persons may give one hundred percent of energies and efforts to said task.
 
i did both on Heart of Now and the quality didn't suffer. quite the opposite. i achieved a signature look and got wonderfully, spontaneous performances that often exceeded my expectations. it's a hell of a lot of work, and taxing as hell. i'm no superman. far from it. but if you're passionate about it, that and a developed skillset are enough to push everything forward.
 
This is no new diliemma from Painting with light by John Alton;

"It is contrary to reason to photgraph and direct simultaneously. The new director must forget that he was ever a camera man.... It is for the director to see that the author's mind spirit, and thought are faithfully reflected upon the mind of the audience. This is an extremely difficult task and far from what the cameraman should concentrate upon. The director sees it as a picture, divided into sequences and scenes, creating in his mind the characters and the dialogue, and worrying about music, sound and editing.... The Director of photography visualizes the picture purely from a photographic point of view, as determined by lights and the moods of individual squences and scenes. In other words how to use angles, set ups, lights and camera as a means to tell the story. I didn't become a director because every time I looked at a scene, I saw the light on the actors faces, and didn't hear what they were saying, so I knew I wasn't going to be a good director."

It sounds like to me you are much more a DP than a director. Some times its hard to let go, but I think you'll have a better film if you do.
 
You open yourself up to make mistakes if the scheduling is off and you guys wind up rushing things. Plus if you are messing with the camera when you should be directing you will start to get other crew members trying to put their 2 cents in on how the scene should go or how the line should go.
 
Beat Takeshi said:
You open yourself up to make mistakes if the scheduling is off and you guys wind up rushing things. Plus if you are messing with the camera when you should be directing you will start to get other crew members trying to put their 2 cents in on how the scene should go or how the line should go.
Click to expand...
while i encourage radical collaboration with cast and crew, there is still a top>down hierarchy on my sets. on anything creative, they know to look to me exclusively. i've seen Steven Soderbergh run his set, he also directs and DPs, and I model my own methods/techniques after his.

i've never run into the problem you're describing, Aram, because as director I have a 1st AD who is doing his job, running the set and telling people where they need to be and what they need to be doing, and I have ACs, camera ops and a gaffer executing my decisions as the DP. I know I said it's hard, but I'm still not the hardest working person on set.

I think what where you're talking about is Directors/DPs who are physically moving lights and trying to do an AD's job all at the same time.
 
rahn said:
I'll be directing a short film during a 3-5 day shoot over the summer. It will be shot on super 16 (Arri SR1 or 3) with 2 main characters and 5 minor characters. I will have access to a crew and also lighting equipment and full sound setup.

But here's the dilemma. Picture is my big passion as much as directing is and I'm stuck on whether to DP it as well as directing. I'm extremely picky about the style of cinematography, and because I'm at school, it's hard for me to find a very competent student cinematographer who has the eye AND the technical proficiency. But to juggle both the jobs is a huge responsibility and I'm wondering whether doing so will sacrifice the quality of the film. The other option is to definitely have the Arri videotap on location and keep a close eye on the DP.

I'd like to know what you think based on your experiences.

Thanks!
Click to expand...


I assume you'd plan to operate camera also?

That's really, in my experience, a major pain in the arse when you're inexperienced. Find someone you trust to DP the piece and try and be specific about what you want BEFORE the shooting starts.

.
 
I've had my fair share of directing and DPing but that's only where the directing is minimal at best. I'm more of a visual artist and I focus more on how the camera moves and operates than how actors interact, which is why I tend to co-direct a lot of stuff because I can give input to the other director that I'm working with at the time.

If you find yourself worrying about the quality of the shots, then you just answered your own question. Find a competant director and learn to trust people a little bit. It's hard to do but film is a collaborative field, you can't do everything yourself.
 
no experience but just from what i have seen on other sets if you don't have a good grip and camera operator and i mean a really good grip i wouldn't even attempt it.
 
Last edited:
Zak Forsman said:
while i encourage radical collaboration with cast and crew, there is still a top>down hierarchy on my sets. on anything creative, they know to look to me exclusively. i've seen Steven Soderbergh run his set, he also directs and DPs, and I model my own methods/techniques after his.

i've never run into the problem you're describing, Aram, because as director I have a 1st AD who is doing his job, running the set and telling people where they need to be and what they need to be doing, and I have ACs, camera ops and a gaffer executing my decisions as the DP. I know I said it's hard, but I'm still not the hardest working person on set.

I think what where you're talking about is Directors/DPs who are physically moving lights and trying to do an AD's job all at the same time.
Click to expand...

Could you say, at all, that your films might have a style that's complimented by such? And, would you do it with a budget large enough to afford a DP in place?

Just questions to help gain a perspective from the other side of the fence.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top